Birds that I find in the field, photograph and share the stories behind the images.
Double Delight and an Observation – Great Horned Owls
I'm excited that two Great Horned Owls are using the same roosting location on Antelope Island.
Birds that I find in the field, photograph and share the stories behind the images.
I'm excited that two Great Horned Owls are using the same roosting location on Antelope Island.
Last week though I had the opportunity to photograph a very cooperative Rough-legged Hawk preening.
I adore Burrowing Owls, especially the juveniles because they can be funny, serious looking, comical and at times they act like clowns.
Because I live far from my family and have no children at home my yearly Thanksgiving tradition includes spending a part of my day out photographing birds, mostly early morning outings.
I have been very pleased to add so many images of Rough-legged Hawks to my portfolio in just the past week and hopefully these Roughies will stick around until late February of next year so there will be many more opportunities.
My monthly post titled "So ya think ya want to be a Bird Photographer?" at BirdingIsFun.com has been published.
Wow, two nemesis birds photographed in a week, this Prairie Falcon was amazing. I'll be grinning (and dancing) about this for quite awhile!
Eureka! The Rough-legged Hawks are back from their high subarctic and Arctic breeding grounds and they seem to be showing up in larger numbers than I have seen them since I moved to Utah.
My favorite name for Great Horned Owls is "The Tiger of the Sky" and it is very descriptive of this large, fierce owl.
While I lived in Florida I took thousands (and thousands) of images of Reddish Egrets and I am very glad that I did because they are rarities in Utah, where I now live.
Ferruginous Hawks are the largest hawks found in North America, the "regalis" in the latin name means "kingly" or "regal" and I have to agree with those descriptions.
Red-tailed Hawk with Long-billed syndrome, a perfect example of the sickle-bill form (the worst) all the way over in Utah and the first I am aware of for that state.
Little Blue Herons were a wading bird that I saw often in Florida. The day I photographed this Little Blue Heron I was sitting quietly in the shallow water of a lagoon when this bird flew in and began to hunt.
Ravens hold a special place in my heart because they are smart (actually brilliant for birds), collectors of things shiny and/or odd, they let you know about their presence with hoarse croaking sounds and they are very amusing to observe and photograph.
I have learned that you have to be prepared to be a bird photographer and additionally that you need to be fast because birds are free moving creatures. There are times that you simply don't or won't have time to change your camera's settings.
Photographing birds during Autumn is a wonderful time for me in Utah, the beautiful fall colors delight and enthrall me, the air gets nippy and I find myself feeling a surge of energy whenever I am outdoors.
The Great Blue Heron images from the series I created that blustery November morning on Fort De Soto's north beach are still favorites of mine and likely always will be.
I can't acquire focus on the Lunatic Sage Thrashers because they don't ever stay still long enough, they race around willy-nilly until dizziness forces me to stop watching them. Think Ricochet Rabbit.
I could always tell when a flock of Black Skimmers were flying in to Fort De Soto's north beach when I was photographing there because I could usually hear their soft, nasal barking yips or yeps before I saw them.
Yesterday I came across this very cooperative male Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris). This male bird preened for a full seven minutes and I took 256 images of it.
It didn't take long for me to check my ISO, my aperture and other techs as I dropped onto my knees before laying flat on my belly to photograph the flock of 20 or so Whimbrels.
Sanderlings can be a challenge to photograph because they move erratically at a very fast pace but creating images of them at their level is well worth the trouble of getting dirty and being exhausted by trying to follow the movements of these tiny dynamos.
Another wonderful change that I have been seeing is that a variety of duck species have been arriving at the Great Salt Lake
I'm looking forward to the crisp cool air after all the summer heat but most of all I am looking forward to the birds I have missed seeing during the hottest part of the year
Earlier this year in March I wrote an article titled "Burrowing Owls - Loved to Death?" and this post is a sequel to it.
This Friday's Photo is that of a Wilson's Plover, a species I very much enjoyed photographing while I lived in Florida.
I love to photograph in pre-dawn light because of the subtle almost pastel tones that can be captured at that time of the morning.
A few days ago I had the opportunity to take images of California Gulls feeding on brine flies along shoreline of the Great Salt Lake next to the causeway to Antelope Island
I often forget that by backing up my zoom, swapping my long lens for a wide angle lens or backing up physically I can get the "whole picture".
There are images that I have created that as soon as I see them on my monitor become listed as one of my favorites.